Friday My Town Shootout

High & Low is this week's theme.  We're in the Seattle, WA area this week.  Just so happens that we went to the Locks in Ballard, WA today!
Completed in 1917, the locks link the Puget Sound with Lake Union and Lake Washington.  Boats as large as 760 feet in length and as small as a kayak can travel through the locks.
I think there is a difference of maybe 18 feet between Union Lake & Peugot Sound. Look how close those boats are, waiting for the water level to go down!
Speaking of high & low:

The locks are also a critical link for salmon and steelhead heading upstream to spawn. A fish ladder with 21 steps or “weirs” allows spawning fish to climb to the freshwater side. Coho salmon going up the ladder!
For more FMTS photos, check out this site!  Have a great weekend!

Friday My Town Shootout

This week's theme is to match a favorite quote to a photo from your town.

I have a notebook full of quotes that I love. I could go CRAZY trying to find photos that match any given quote!  Certainly why I chose this quote...

Considering where I am (in a Thousand Trails park in Chehalis, WA), what I see around me this week brought this quote to mind...
I am capable of "thinking" things in to a whirlwind, so this is what I try to remind myself of.

Have a wonderfully, simple weekend! And be sure to check out more FMTSO here!

Morning Visitor

They come for this:
I have no idea what kind of berry this is, but the birds LOVE them too!
I saw a little family of deer (this being the baby) the other day.  When I snapped the photo, he flinched.  I felt badly that I had scared him!

To Chehalis,WA

Still on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, driving down into Rainier.  It's been a beautiful drive today, with lush forests on both sides of the highway.
Both sides of the river had log mills, and amazing piles of logs stacked up. Those are fishing boats on the river.
The Lewis & Clark Bridge over the Columbia.
Halfway across the bridge:

We'll be spending a week at this Thousand Trails in Chehalis, WA. Look at all the ferns & trees! Beautiful! Expecting rain tomorrow, but hoping for some sunny weather in a couple of days to takes photos around the park. After this week we'll head north to the Seattle area for a couple of weeks.

Friday My Town Shootout

Rust, Rusty, Rustic
I've been looking around trying to find anything rusty in Seaside without any luck. Weird since the town is right on the ocean. But it's a busy tourist town, and I have the impression that the townspeople work very hard to keep things looking well kept. No rust. No rustic looking places.

Today we drove to Astoria, OR, which is deep-water port on the mouth of the Columbia River. A very cool & fascinating town.  But back to FMTS!
I'm not sure what this is, but it's something nautical. A weight?
An anchor
Rusty propeller on a dry docked boat
The Astoria-Megler Bridge is a continuous truss bridge that spans the mouth of the Columbia River between Astoria, Oregon and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington, in the United States. The span was the last segment of U.S. Route 101 between Olympia, Washington and Los Angeles, California.[1] It is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.
I have a sneaking suspicion that there's some rust up there!
Check out more FMTS photos here!

Seaside Aquarium

One of the few sunny days we've had lately, so we decided we needed to get out & do something!
We won free tickets to the Aquarium in a raffle the other day. The aquarium in Seaside is right on the beach, and I knew it would be small from the looks of the building.
We've been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in CA, which is fabulous in every sense of the word & would encourage anyone to go there if possible. But I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this little one too.
The newest baby!
Meet Victor, who was a very old lobster. His life ended when he was dropped by someone trying to abscond with him. :(
Prickleback
Photo of sea urchins is blurry, but imagine a sea otter eating one of these. It's their favorite food!
These guys fascinate me.
Quillback Rockfish. Hubby had caught one on his fishing adventure. Delicious.
I'm not sure what kind of fish this is, but he seemed to want his picture taken.
These little girls looked fascinated & creeped out at the same time. So cute!
This little scene makes me think of a dead body draped over the rock & the other one running away!
Flounders just layin' around.
Wolf Eel. Loved this guy! It's almost a human face!
Stars

Garden Tuesday

Here in Oregon, the wildflowers still abound!  Wild blackberry bushes are so thick & they're everywhere, starting to produce berries.  Foxglove is wild along roadsides, and anywhere that sunlight manages to peek through the trees, little daisies happily wave us by.

I'm not sure what these flowers are, but they're like little bells & the bumble bees love them!
The bumble bee population is alive & well in Oregon!

Check out more Garden Tuesday at http://www.sidewalkshoes.com/!

OH!

What a year it has been!!!

Saturday was our one year anniversary of "freedom."  A year of traveling.  We were bitten by the dream of traveling years ago and have been lucky enough to be able to make it happen.

And, as it turned out, there truly have been waves of new experiences, just not in the way I had imagined.

I lost my mother during the year.  In fact, it will be a year this month.   I can't believe how much harder it is a year later than even in the beginning.  I wish I had held her hand more, had her over to the house more, sat down after a full day of shopping to have that cup of tea she always offered.  I miss her.

We lost dear Wilson (Willy, Wilsonator, clown-boy, WeeWee) this year.  Neither of us can stand to look at a Golden Retreiver yet without tearing up.  As naughty & irritating as he could be at times, he was very sweet, often amusing & a great friend.  I miss him.

So sitting outside in the evening, we remembered the year; the good, the bad, & the ugly.  And we still feel blessed.  Thank you God.

Also, we thought it only fitting that we toast the year with a bottle of wine given to us by a young couple that was parked next to us in an RV park in Texas.  His father's family own & operate Truchard Winery.  With a very thick accent they brought it over to us one evening, saying they don't really care for red wine & hoped we would enjoy it.  We did, very much.  Thank you!

Friday My Town Shootout

This is our town for the next two weeks as we travel around.  While we're in Seaside, Oregon right now, this is very typical of most towns that we've been through all over Oregon.
Big, beautiful, seriously ubiquitous pots of flowers hanging from light posts, shopping centers, and almost any spot that will support these huge balls of color. Those, and flags throughout the downtown areas!  How the state maintains all of these is beyond me. Summer is a happy place in Oregon!
Have a wonderful weekend, and check out more shootouts here!

Garden Tuesday

Having no garden of my very own these days, I'm finding great pleasure in the plants & wildflowers here in Oregon.
Hydrangeas have always been a favorite of mine, but I've never lived in an area where they would do well.
This is the exact color I would strive for.
Blue, on the verge of turning pink.

Saturday Market

This last Saturday, we wanted to go to the Farmer's Market in Portland, OR (at the Portland State University).  Hubby had had some kind of weird thing (spider bite? insect bite? alien infestation) going on in his finger and was on drugs, so I drove. 
This was some crazy, one-way street, skinny roads, congested areas and, really, as we got close, I almost gave up and drove home.  I am soooo glad we persevered!!!
I have to say that I LOVE (and I realize that I LOVE oh so many things!) farmer's markets; the feel of them, the fresh veggies, and the fresh flowers!!!
Well, Hubby was in charge of the camera Saturday morning, and as I downloaded the photos, it brought to mind how, even though we look at the same scene, we would choose to snap a picture of very different things. Isn't that interesting?
I know he was trying to get a "feel" of the market, but there were so many people (thousands, I'm sure) that the only pics he could get were people shots.
There was a jazz band playing in the food area,
somewhere in here.
All those people, finding a place to park, walking the distance to the market, all to find the freshest veggies, berries, and, yes, Salmon!
We came home with Chinook (King) salmon (incredibly delicious!), loads of fresh berries, fresh greens, and beautiful flowers!
Please, never mind that guy in the backround wearing the A's hat...it is ALL about the Giants! Ha!
So, I'm thinking that the next time we go out to take photos (tomorrow), we'll both have cameras...let's see what shots we come home with!!!
BTW, I came home so very happy, having been to that awesome farmer's market!